21mc006-TE-2008_Turin, Galleria Sabauda, G. F. Barbieri said Guercino, The prodigal son, inv. 121, cat. 497

Facilitated description:

 

The Prodigal Son is a painting on canvas.
The painting depicts an episode told in the Bible about a son (character on his knees) who returns home to his father.
The painter Francesco Narbieri, known as Guercino, painted the painting in 1617.
The restorers of the La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2008.
The restorers cleaned the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting).
Then they cleaned the painting of the dust.
They fixed the crettatures (small cracks in the painting).
They cleaned the painting from the yellowed paint.
They painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.
In the end they restored the frame. They cleaned the frame of the dust.
They filled the wooden gaps with stucco (plaster and glue layer).
They covered the stucco with gold leaf and painted the frame.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the speech:

 

Restoration

In agreement with the Works Department, it was decided not to intervene on the support, although very stiff. The textile support and the wooden frame were the subject of careful dry cleaning with soft brushes and micro-aspirator that allowed the removal of incoherent dust deposits.
As regards the pictorial surface, due to the poor state of conservation, it was decided to limit the intervention to an aesthetic revision. The incoherent deposits were then removed with a soft brush cleaning, preceded by an operation to fix the crettatures. The study of the supermmesse substances and the historicized restorations was then carried out. The cleaning work was therefore aimed at lightening the layer of oxidised paint using a solution applied with swabs and maintaining the previous retouching. The pictorial reintegration phase was carried out with the aim of rebalancing the tacked touch-ups by acting directly on the paint in the affected areas. Finally, a protective paint was applied to the spray.

 

Frame
The intervention on the frame provided for the removal of incoherent deposits by the use of soft bristle brushes, while for the more tenacious residues a fat emulsion was used. In agreement with the Works Directorate, it was decided to compensate for the gaps in the gold leaf in the most abraded areas and in those affected by grouting. A new leaf with gouache technique was then applied. Finally, a protective paint was sprayed.

 

Bibliography

- C. Goria, Sheet 6.1 in De Van Dyck in Bellotto. Splendeurs à la cour de Savoie, C. E. Spantigati, P. Astrua, A. M. Bava, S. Damiano, Torino, Allemandi, 2009, pp. 158-159.